MATR Newsletter – September 6, 2019
The state with the best education wins!

“Imagine if schools actually helped kids identify their strengths by exploring their talents from a young age and growing their skills over the 12 years instead of letting them all follow the same routine like sheep and leaving them confused in life after graduation.” Tallie Dar

Montana Technology Innovation Partnership

• MTIP Receives FAST award, Get Serious with Fall Workshops, Innovate Montana Symposium Innovation Partnership P3 to PIII Newsletter September 2019

  Fall is the perfect time to plan for SBIR!

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Federal money available for rural broadband – but is it enough? And, for what?

  Tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars needed to fill gaps

Montana Business and Govt. Agency Collaboration Success

• Bigfork, Montana’s Whistling Andy Distillery is helping with Glacier National Park’s Sperry Chalet restoration (video)

  Spencer says so far, the specialty huckleberry vodka is proving to be a successful way to raise money, and the distillery so far has donated $45,000 to the project.

• Senator Jon Tester Fires up the Crowd, Leads Panel on Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act at Last Best Outdoors Fest

  Senator’s landmark legislation would protect public lands, increase public access to recreation, and strengthen Montana’s economy

Gov. Steve Bullock

• Governor Bullock Announces $19 Million Grant to Support Unified Medical Records Database

  Big Sky Care Connect is Montana’s latest attempt to link health care providers so they can more efficiently share patient medical information.

Montana Business

• Red Oxx brightens up Billings, Montana industrial neighborhood with industrial art – Fifth annual OxxFest on Sept. 13 – 14 will celebrate the progress

  It’s an accomplishment five years in the making in the industrial hodgepodge of the East Billings Urban Renewal District.

Visit Montana

• Montana’s Yogo Sapphire mine, the only one of its kind in the world

  Located about 50 miles west of Lewistown lies the Yogo Sapphire Gulch where at least a billion dollars worth of Yogo sapphires is hidden in the rocks.

• Meet the Northwest Montana History Museum in Kalispell

  “We collect anything north of Missoula and west of Cut Bank. We have all of that stuff here but no one knows it.”

New Events posted this week – Visit Full Calendar for All Events

Export 101 Workshop – 9/11 – Hamilton

MSU to host fundraising workshop for nonprofit organizations 9/17, 9/19, Bozeman

Funding and Building your Business

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Looks for These 2 Traits Before He’ll Hire Anyone

  These are two qualities any leader would kill to have a greater mix of on his or her team.

Idaho News & Events

• Idaho Business Out Loud interview: Matt Gilkerson, Trailhead Boise, program manager

  Trailhead is a hub for startups, entrepreneurs, freelancers and remote employees looking for community, camaraderie and collaboration.

Come Home Wyoming

• Wyoming education ranked 6th in nation by the National Education Quality Report

  Once again, Wyoming scored the highest among western states, and first in the nation in school finance.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• Project Connect creates a culture of compassion and Inclusion at Bozeman High School

  The program is looking for more volunteers and offering training courses

• Montana State University-Northern – A Great Place To Start

  In all his years at Northern, Chancellor Greg Kegel has never been more optimistic about the campus and its future.

STARS Montana Early Education Program

• Montana Early Childhood Project at MSU receives grant to create new provider registry

  The project has received a $42,000 grant to create a new registry for home visitors and early intervention specialists who work with infants or toddlers who have significant developmental delays or disabilities.

Education News

• Montana Tech’s student government led by all women for first time

  Montana Tech opened its doors 119 years ago, and this year the president, vice president and treasurer are all women. All three are trying to make a difference on campus.

Missoula Schools Excellence

• Growing deficit forces changes in Missoula County Public school lunch program (Video)

  MCPS lunch budget well over $18,000 in the red

Montana Politics & Legislature

• State ethics chief recommends bringing Montana’s lobbying code ‘into the 21st century’

  “You will find the word ‘telegraph’ in the current code as far as what lobbyists should be reporting — telephone and telegraph expenses. You won’t find the word ‘internet’ in there,” Mangan said.

Come Home North Dakota

• Workforce shortage in North Dakota impacting both prosecutors and public defenders

  The shortage impacting Lawyer and others around the state seems to follow national trends.

Connectivity & Communications

• Part Two: Cell-phone service in Montana: Large chunks of the state still uncovered

  “The big carriers want to cover the corridors, the highways; they don’t get off the highways much,” says Craig Gates, CEO of Havre-based Triangle Communications, one of only two rural telephone companies in Montana that still offer cell service.

Transportation

• Release the machines! Japan will let self-driving cars wander freely ahead of Tokyo Olympics

  Japan will allow dozens of self-driving cars to freely roam near the competition areas and shuttle passengers.

Energy and Climate Change

• The End of Wasted Water: A Revolution in Reuse Is Underway

  As a species, we’ll have to learn to use our technology and political will to put an end to wasted water.

MATR Newsletter Supporters: